Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead

4 reviews

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I have so many feelings about this book. The beginning of the book was strong because it had a lot of tension. There was a build-up to learning about what happened to Shay, and then I felt like after she gets involved with the Paters, (which sounded kind of mispronounced from a Latin standpoint in the first part of the audiobook) the tension is just lost. The meetings can't be portrayed as super terrifying

if really nothing bad happens to Shay and she can escape all the time. Also what the hell was up with her getting the brand?

I feel like the violence got normalized to the reader because it was just more and more meetings. I did want to stop reading it a few times because the misogynistic language from The Bad Guys was too much. I also thought, and this felt confirmed by the author being an academic, that there were some Big Ideas about Feminism that were tried to be explored, but it felt heavy-handed and not concrete. Also, I really wanted to like Jamie, but I felt

not great about him from a reporter-is-exploiting-trauma standpoint and also that Shay seemed in no healthy mental state to be having a sexual relationship.

I feel like the reflections on the past had a lot of promise as a plot, but I started feeling lost as current events happened.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Blood, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Gaslighting, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexual content, Abandonment, Addiction, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Suicide

Minor: Alcohol, Gore, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Fire/Fire injury

Big alert - this has a lot of violence against women, misogynistic language, and sexual violence, so it's a rough time.

momsmagicreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Murder, Sexism, Suicide, and Misogyny

Moderate: Fatphobia, Grief, Blood, and Dysphoria

kerrygetsliterary's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

WOW. Holy shit, what a ride. I finished this last night and had to post about it today.

⚠️ First, content warnings are a MUST (which the author included at the start of the book, which is awesome!). This book is DARK, and not for the faint of heart. CWs include rape, sexual violence, suicide, physical violence, misogyny, trauma, victim blaming, drug use, death, blood, and more.

After college, Shay Evans flees upstate New York to Texas, leaving her old life behind. Eight years later, while listening to her childhood friend's true crime podcast, she learns that her best friend from college, Laurel, has died on campus. What was she doing there so long after graduation? Shay must find answers.

And that's all I'm going to say about the plot. This book is so compelling that I only stopped reading when I absolutely had to. I've never read a thriller like this before, and after finishing, it immediately was added to my favorites shelf. Not many thrillers are 5 stars for me, but this one is well deserved. Ashley Winstead is absolutely an auto-buy author from now on, and I'll read anything she writes.

What made this story so scary is that I have no doubt that the things that happened in here actually do happen in the real world. And that's absolutely terrifying. And that's all I can say about that without spoilers. I was anxious and on the edge of my seat, but also couldn't stop reading.

If you like dark thrillers, The Last Housewife is for you. Get your hands on it ASAP!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Murder, Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Violence, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent

kelligrace's review

challenging dark mysterious tense

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Suicide, Self harm, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Physical abuse, Murder, Blood, Confinement, Religious bigotry, Fatphobia, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Drug use